Abstract
Project management is a current topic in management, and project management offices are springing up in many organizations. Libraries may not need a project management office, but adoption of project management techniques, rightsized for library needs, can focus scope, define and organize tasks, and manage resources for many kinds of projects. The University of New Hampshire Library has implemented selected aspects of project management and is learning where these principles can be applied most effectively for successful projects. This paper describes UNH’s use of selected project management techniques and tools in a major collection integration and relocation project.
Highlights
Project management is a current hot topic in management, and project management offices are springing up in many organizations
University of New Hampshire (UNH)’s use of selected project management techniques and tools in a major collection integration and relocation project allow us to resolve many of the issues that in the past contributed to problems and breakdowns in some of our projects
“In short, project management is a method for getting something done, whereas functional management is a method for keeping things going," Anzalone puts more succinctly.[1]
Summary
Projects at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Library have rarely come to us in the manners so optimistically described in the literature. One faculty member took on an entirely new position to focus attention on assessment, which would be instrumental in identifying priorities and allocating resources Another completed a project management certificate program through the University’s professional development program; others took coursework in the same program. The library opted to “rightsize” existing principles of project management By selecting those aspects of project management methodology that would better define and prioritize projects, identify and allocate needed resources, develop communication channels with stakeholders, and formalize handoff to the right library employee(s) when required, we hoped to meet the end goals of those methodologies: bringing projects in on time and within budget. The project team -library faculty and staff from our Circulation, Collection Management, Cataloging, and Reference units -- was selected for functional expertise and potential to work effectively within these constraints
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